Surgical wounds are usually closed by using either an interrupted or continuous suture using absorbable or non absorbable suture materials. Skin staples are an alternative to sutures and are usually used at the discretion of the surgeon. Skin wound closure with metallic clips is considered to be a fast and effective alternative to sutures. Furthermore, it is commonly believed that staples are less traumatic and may reduce wound complications. This makes the use of staples attractive as it may reduce the risk of postoperative wound complications.
Surgical site infection (SSI) after saphenous vein graft harvesting is a postoperative complication that may occur in up to 18% of patients who undergo coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG). We considered the effects of using either staples or sutures for closing the skin after saphenous vein graft harvesting for CABG on rates of wound infection and wound dehiscence. We included four studies reporting on a total of 148 leg wounds closed with staples and 174 with sutures after vein graft harvesting in patients undergoing isolated CABG.
There was no difference in leg wound infection rate or in leg wound dehiscence when wounds were closed with staples rather than with sutures.